Exclusive: Wanted narco boss, Christopher Kinahan Sr, has exposed his movements and whereabouts by leaving hundreds of online reviews for hotels, restaurants and luxury shops, an investigation by Bellingcat and @ST__Ireland finds: bellingcat.com/news/2024/03/3…
Kinahan Sr. is the head of the notorious Kinahan Cartel. Irish police believe the organisation has amassed profits of over $1 billion through the trade of illegal narcotics, arms trafficking and money laundering while Europol have linked the gang to multiple murders.
The US Government is offering a collective $15 million bounty for information leading to the financial disruption or arrest of Kinahan and his two sons, Daniel and Christopher Jr. All three are reported to be based in Dubai. 
But a more precise picture of Kinahan Sr’s movements in recent years can now be gleaned thanks to his habit of leaving detailed Google reviews for many of the establishments he has frequented, as uncovered by @ConPlnk @oldpete45 @JohnMooneyIRL & @beaudonelly
Using the alias “Christopher Vincent” (his first and middle names) Kinahan Sr posted of about lavish lunches, trips to Rolex stores, extravagant fishing trips as well his international travels.
It was possible to link the Christopher Vincent profile to Kinahan Sr as an email address associated with the account was found to belong to him, as well as being connected to a physical address detailed in US sanctions documents.
Whatsmore, his reflection also appears in windows or mirrors in several of the images posted to the profile.
In March 2023, Kinahan Sr reviewed The Cycle Bistro Jumeirah in Dubai. “Service was good and the staff were pleasant and helpful,” he wrote. “The menu caters for NON-vegan, dairy and sugar.”
It appears to have been a regular haunt. A few months later the Bistro inadvertently posted this image of his son Christopher Jr and what appears to be Kinahan Sr from behind. The image is the most recent known photo of both individuals.
Kinahan Sr’s reviews began in 2019 and boast of trips to Spain, Hungary, Turkey, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Egypt, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and venues in Dubai where Kinahan resides.
Since the US wanted notice was announced in April, 2022, reviews have only been for locations inside the UAE.
Many of the reviews hint at Kinahan Sr’s foreign travel for business purposes.
In a review from August 2021, Kinahan Sr. posted about a trip to a business networking event in Zimbabwe. The ICIJ previously detailed this trip and described how Kinahan had considered establish a home Zimbabwe icij.org/inside-icij/20…
In 2023, the Sunday Times reported that the Kinahan Cartel were looking to launder their drug profits through the purchase of gold in Zimabwe thetimes.co.uk/article/inside…
Kinahan Sr’s reviews also detail some more mundane outings such as trips to chains such as Pizza Hut, Pret a Manger, PF Changs as well as several Irish bars in the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.
His propensity for the high life is revealed in posts about trips to a Dubai Rolex store, business class travel on Emirates and some of the hotels he stays in.
The Sunday Times and Bellingcat reached out to Kinahan Sr about the details in this story but did not receive a response before publication.
Find out what else can be gleaned from the movements Kinahan Sr via his online reviews by reading the full investigation on our website: bellingcat.com/news/2024/03/3…
You can read @ST__Ireland ‘s version of the story here: thetimes.co.uk/article/on-the…
Bellingcat is a non-profit and the ability to carry out our work is dependent on the kind support of individual donors. If you would like to support our work, you can do so here bellingcat.com/donate/
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